I’m not a very photogenic person. Perhaps it’s an erroneous perception based on my own inability to accept my physical appearance, or the unappealing nature thereof. Either way, I’m endlessly fascinated by people who seem born to sit before the camera. I’m not talking about the supermodel variety, I’m talking more about random people, mostly (but not exclusively) of the musical artist variety, who seem to have an endless supply of brilliant photography of which they are the subject. I wanted to share some of my favorite portraits with those of you out there in internetland. So, when the mood strikes me, I’ll keep posting them. I’m sure there will be plenty of people who will continue to show up again and again, such as Tom Waits, Alison Sudol (A Fine Frenzy), and today’s subject, Mos Def, to name a few.

I’m not ashamed to point out that for my money, Mos Def is flat out sexy. I’d be more than satisfied with a mere third of his unique, smooth, effortlessly cool style and persona. And, if that weren’t enough, he also recently released the best Hip Hop CD I’ve heard in a long time. I figure, since this is the first photogenic post, I’ll post three photos of the fabulous Mr. Most Definitely.

The Ecstatic, the new Mos Def album, is amazing! I love it. It literally floored me the first time through, keeping me from doing writing that I was supposed to be doing at the time. I may write more on the CD soon now that school is winding down a bit, but we’ll see. At the very least I wanted to post the music video for the album’s first single, ‘Casa Bey.’ As the album’s final song, ‘Casa Bey’ works quite well as a grand finale, showcasing Mos Def’s characteristically smooth flow. As he says in the song, you can’t stop his go.

I mourn the fact that garbage like 50 Cent and such flood the airwaves, all the while Mos Def isn’t nearly as famous as he should be. He should be at the top of the Billboard charts and such for months on end… but he isn’t, Lil’ Wayne is instead. Ugh!